Officer-involved shooting in north city

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ST. LOUIS (KPLR) - The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is investigating an officer-involved shooting in a north city neighborhood Tuesday.

The shooting occurred shortly after 11:30 a.m. in an alley in the 3200 block of St. Louis Avenue, in the Jeff Vanderlou neighborhood.

According to St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson, police began following a vehicle believed to be taken in an armed carjacking Monday evening. Three people were inside the vehicle.

The vehicle pulled into the alley and two passengers got out of the car and attempted to run away. Dotson said officers got out to give chase, but the front seat passenger displayed a handgun and pointed it at police. Fearing for his safety, one of the officers pulled out his service weapon and opened fire. The suspect was struck once and attempted to flee, but collapsed after running 30 or 40 yards. The person was pronounced dead at the scene. Neither officer was injured.

It's unclear how many shots were fired, Dotson said. It's also unknown if the suspect actually fired a shot.

The other passenger who got out the suspect vehicle was subdued with a Taser and taken into custody. The vehicle was found abandoned about a mile from the scene. The driver remains at-large.

Dotson said the officer who fired the shots has been with the department for more than seven years. When asked by reporters, Dotson said the officer is Caucasian and the deceased individual is African-American.

A gun was recovered at the scene. Police are interviewing potential witnesses.

The police vehicle was not equipped with a camera, Dotson said.

Columbia Elementary School, which is located in the 3100 block of St. Louis Avenue, was placed on lock-down as a precautionary measure.

Police have not released any details about the person killed, except that he is a black male. The officer has been on the force seven and a half years and is a white male.

Chief Dotson says there is no dash cam video of the shooting but they are looking to see if any of it was caught on video by someone else.

The Department`s Force Investigative Unit and the Circuit Attorney`s office are both investigating the shooting.